Re: Should I get two floppy drives?

["schmidtd" <schmidtd@my-deja.com>]

On Feb 22, 2:41 pm, MarkW <mark...@removenospamcomcast.net> wrote:
> My question:  I know I obviously need a drive controller card and many
> on ebay seem to have these and come with one drive.  If I purchase  a
> 2nd drive separately will it hook into that card also or do I need a
> 2nd card.  I wasn't sure if they may 1 drive cards.

All the adapters can support two drives.  There are two different
connectors, though: an internal header-style with ribbon cable, and an
external 19-pin D-shell with round, shielded cable.  This site has all
the different kinds of Apple drives:
http://www.mandrake.demon.co.uk/Apple/drives.html
Whichever adapter/disk combo you end up with, buy a second drive that
matches the first.

> As well, where do most of you get your software?

We write it. :-)  Oh, ok, and there's also Asimov:
ftp://ftp.apple.asimov.net/pub/apple_II
There are lots of Apple emulation sites on the web that have disk
images.  Once you have disk images (a 140k file, often ending in
".dsk") you need to transfer them from your internet-connected
computer down to the Apple.  For that, you need a communications card
of some sort; most folks end up with an Apple Super Serial card.
Depending on software and hardware you might have on hand, there are
various levels of bootstrapping and transfer you'll need to go
through.  The Apple Disk Transfer (ADT) and its descendants can be
used to to do that:
http://adtpro.sourceforge.net/bootstrap.html

A newer option is the Uthernet card, which lets you hook up to your
ethernet network:
http://www.a2retrosystems.com/
There are lots of new opportunities when going that route.

> I always dream of one but grew up with a Commodore 64. I
> used to enjoy the Apple, the basic programming, etc. so figured it
> will be a great hobby in my spare time.

I grew up with Apple Envy too.  25 years later, the machines got a lot
cheaper.